MEGADETH's MUSTAINE On ELLEFSON: We're Closer Now Than We've Ever Been

Giorgio Mustica of The Aquarian Weekly recently conducted an interview with MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

On whether he ever thought he would one day reunite with MEGADETH's bassist David Ellefson:

"No, probably not. You see, the thing is Dave [Ellefson] and I were always close and we had this terrible incident occur between us. And throughout the whole thing, I kept the same position in that I didn't want him to get hurt and I didn't want his family to get hurt."

On Ellefson's decision to file a lawsuit in 2004 against Dave Mustaine for $18.5 million, claiming that the vocalist shortchanged him from profits, including publishing and merchandise sales, in addition to making libelous statements about him:

"Thank God the judge dismissed his lawsuit. I don't think he did anything wrong, I think he just listened to the wrong person. When I met with him after this whole thing went down and I told him that I forgave him, he probably wasn't expecting that. But if anybody deserves a second chance, as many as I've had, I shouldn't be [stopping] from giving someone else a second chance."

On Ellefson's return to MEGADETH:

"It was actually even better than before because he's gotten so much better playing his instrument. I remember him to be a really good bass player but he became great."

On MEGADETH's current lineup:

"Right now, we're totally blessed, we're totally covered and we've got great players with us. Chris [Broderick, guitar] is amazing, too. And I got to tell you that Shawn [Drover, drums], if I would have met him in the beginning, he probably would've been my only drummer because we're just cut from the same cloth. And I really wish things hadn't changed with David and I for that, you know, eight-year timeout that he was in, but we're closer now, I think, than we've ever been."

On MEGADETH's participation in this summer's Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival alongside DISTURBED, GODSMACK and MACHINE HEAD, among others:

"The Mayhem tour has been really good. We had a couple of small, little glitches that were happening from some people in the production areas and from some of the other projects that are involved out here. There was just some unfortunate, timely mishaps, you know, and we got it all fixed. The people who are actually running the tour here are amazing and have worked very hard to make us feel comfortable and I'm honored to be a part of this."

"You know, I was never really a big fan of GODSMACK or DISTURBED [but] having been out on this tour, we got a chance to hear some of their songs, and it's cool stuff, man. I'm probably a little more partial to the energy of DISTURBED than GODSMACK because it kind of reminds me a little bit of ALICE IN CHAINS. But DISTURBED, to me, doesn't sounds like anybody I've ever heard before."

Read more from The Aquarian Weekly.

Photo below by Stephanie Cabral